Originally released in July 2002, The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots continues to be regarded as a creative high point for the band. The album’s futuristic narrative and lush production won over fans and critics alike, leading to it ultimately becoming one of the group’s best-selling and most acclaimed works. More than two decades on, tracks like the UK top-40 single "Do You Realize??" and Grammy-winning instrumental “Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" remain standouts in The Lips’ vast musical catalog.
Yoshimi is also notable for being the band’s first true surround sound release, though they’d already dabbled in multichannel reproduction for 1997’s Zaireeka–albeit through very unconventional means. That album consisted of four CDs, designed to be played simultaneously using multiple portable stereos spread out around the listener. The end result was a sort of primitive quadraphonic (or octophonic really, since each disc contained stereo audio) listening experience.
In November 2003, Yoshimi was reissued in the high-resolution DVD-Audio format with a surround sound mix overseen by producer Dave Fridmann and 5.1 mix-master Elliot Scheiner. The duo sought to produce a 5.1 experience unlike any other, using The Flaming Lips’ often-chaotic compositions as a vehicle to unlock the surround format’s full potential. Scheiner described it as even more ambitious than his 5.1 remix of Queen’s A Night At The Opera (1975).
The 5.1 mix presented a completely-unique vision for the album, going beyond just enhanced seperation of the individual elements. Several tracks feature instrumentation not heard in the original stereo version, like additional vocal parts in “Ego Tripping At the Gates of Hell” and an alternate guitar solo in “It’s Summertime.” Fans still view it today as a standout release from the early-2000s SACD/DVD-A era.
Shortly after the 5.1 Yoshimi hit shelves, Dave Fridmann went back and remixed its predecessor–1999’s The Soft Bulletin–in surround for a similar CD/DVD-A reissue. The following album, At War with the Mystics, also received a 5.1 surround release shortly after the stereo version arrived in April 2006. Sadly, due to waning interest in multichannel music and the DVD-Audio format, 2009’s Embryonic did not receive the same treatment.
Now, to belatedly celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary, a new standalone Blu-Ray Audio edition of Yoshimi has arrived courtesy of Rhino Records. The Blu-Ray disc not only contains the original 2003 5.1 mix–which has been out-of-print for years–but also a brand-new Dolby Atmos version mixed from the original multitracks by Dave and Jon Fridmann at Tarbox Road Studios. The duo are behind a number of other excellent Atmos mixes available via streaming services including Donny McCaslin’s I Want More (2023), Vampire Weekend’s Only God Was Above Us (2024), and The Flaming Lips’ most recent studio album American Head (2020).
Much like the prior 5.1 surround release and some quadraphonic mixes of the early-1970s, the Dolby Atmos rendition of Yoshimi completely throws all immersive mixing conventions out the window. Be prepared to hear core elements like the drum kit, lead guitar, and even lead vocal coming from completely behind or above your head. The 'gimmicky' 3-D panning and swirling effects that critics of immersive audio so often detest are on full display here, perfectly befitting the surreal nature of The Flaming Lips' music.
However, I will also say that the new Atmos mix does effectively rein in some of the excesses of the original 5.1 release. To cite just two examples: the drum kit doesn't march around the room for the entirety of “Fight Test” anymore, and “Do You Realize???” no longer has all the instruments in constant circular motion–as if you're riding on a merry-go-round with the band. At the same time, the channel-hopping intros to part 1 of the title track and “It’s Summertime” unfold in a nearly identical manner.
I was additionally very pleased to find that the Atmos mix exhibits a much smoother tonality than the 5.1, perhaps due to there being less dynamic range compression. The original DVD-A could become quite fatiguing at higher volume–especially during the louder passages–but that harshness seems to have been dialed back considerably in the new Atmos presentation. Since the 5.1 mix is included on the Blu-Ray, it's easy to make comparisons–just bear in mind that the TrueHD/Atmos audio stream is presented at a significantly lower level.
Editor's Note: In the DVD-A booklet, the mixing team went so far as to include short descriptions of how the individual elements were placed in the 5.1 renditions of each song. Some of these mix decisions carry over to the new Dolby Atmos mix, but other passages have been completely reimagined.
It’s often frustrating to hear new Dolby Atmos mixes that underutilize the height channels, but that certainly isn’t the case here. The announcer’s voice at the beginning of “Fight Test” comes squarely from the front right height speaker, with the distorted echo on the word ‘now’ filling up the entire room.
Steven Drozd’s drumming seems to fill up all seven floor speakers, with the harmony vocals coming completely from the rear. Whereas the original 5.1 mix of Yoshimi placed Wayne Coyne’s vocals primarily in the front ‘phantom’ center, here they instead seem to extend from the center speaker out into the side surrounds. There’s an especially fun moment just before the three-minute mark where the drums quickly circle the room, clearly as a nod to the original 5.1 mix.
The synth intro to “One More Robot” starts up in the rear heights, then slowly pans across to the front heights as the rest of the band enters from below. The bass part amusingly ping-pongs between the side and rear surround speakers. During the chorus (‘one more robot learns to be…’), the backing vocals cascade across the height array to spectacular effect.
Acoustic guitars zig-zag around the four quadrants for part one of the title track, with keyboards relocated up to the rear heights. Backing vocals are again woven into the side and rear surround speakers, along with the bass synth swells. The cymbal crashes throughout part two moving from speaker-to-speaker around the listener was a hallmark of the original 5.1 release and it’s carried over here–except now they hit all seven speakers at ear-level.
“In the Morning of the Magicians” kicks off with the otherworldly synth part slowly moving clockwise around the room, followed by both Wayne Coyne’s voice and acoustic guitar solely from the left back corner. The vocal and guitar slowly move from the left rear speaker over to the right, before a second pair of guitars burst from the sides. Percussion then surrounds the listener for “Ego Tripping At the Gates of Hell,” while the group's harmony vocals again blast from behind.
Moving into "Are You A Hypnotist?," the mellotron fills up all channels while keyboards move between the side surrounds. Percussion hovers from above, along with the synth brass in the top rear left speaker. The channel-hopping intro to "It's Summertime" quickly gives way to acoustic rhythm guitar from side left and lead guitar from front right, while the harmonies sit up in the front heights. The backwards vocals after the chorus rapidly swirl around the listener just like in the 5.1 mix, except now they travel up to height speakers as they're spinning.
As noted earlier, "Do You Realize???" is probably the most-changed track going from 5.1 to Atmos. I was never a fan of the constant swirling in the original surround version, so I'm glad that the Fridmanns opted for a slightly less haywire approach here. It starts with the pitched-up voices exclusively in the height speakers, then acoustic guitars gently emerge from the side surrounds. Towards the end, lead guitar moves up to the front right height speaker.
"All We Have Is Now" starts with keyboards in rear right and Wayne Coyne's vocal yet again unusually crammed into the left back corner. The 'future' vocal answers from the front, along with the rhythm section. The album then concludes with the award-winning instrumental "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)," showcasing the rotating cymbals at ground level while lead guitar pops up from the front right height channel.
On Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips blended orchestral elements, electronic experimentation, and heartfelt sci-fi storytelling in a way that felt far ahead of its time. The new immersive mix does justice to this ambitious vision, quite literally elevating the album while staying true to its original spirit. This Blu-Ray edition brings together three unique presentations (stereo, 5.1, and Dolby Atmos) in high-resolution audio, making it a must-have for longtime fans as well as newcomers looking to experience Yoshimi in its most adventurous and impactful form yet.
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